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The Salesforce Lobby Wall Makes a Lasting Impression

In the summer of 2016, Obscura completed work on the video wall in the lobby of Salesforce‘s San Francisco headquarters — and people have taken notice. Curious how we did it?

Well, Salesforce had a 108-foot long LED screen at the ready, in a lobby that felt lifeless, and they came to Obscura to bring it to life. Our challenge was to envision and produce work that would transform an otherwise banal passageway into a mesmerizing hyperreal environment. We wanted to do something artful that wouldn’t overwhelm. We wanted to create a conversation starter with inspiring imagery. We wanted to bring in the natural world and let it work its magic on people coming into the office.

We utilized a combination of techniques including video, CG graphics, a practical miniature table-top shoot, and an algorithmically-generated animation component to create new non-looping patterns. We also developed specific scenes for morning and night viewing, fitting moods and energy levels, driven by a custom-built CMS.

From capturing California’s Redwood National Forest in stunning 12K resolution, to designing a convincing CG waterwall (produced by the fluid simulation magicians at Fusion CI Studios) and more, we held nothing back in striving to impart a sense of wonder to everyone that enters the building. (Amusingly, the most common complaint we heard was how we were wasting water in the midst of a drought.)

Here’s our “making of” video, offering a peek at the work behind the scenes of this amazing project:

Videos of the wall have gone crazy viral, including the ones posted by Mashable and Matador. To date, they’ve been viewed by over 46 million people worldwide, and counting. Not bad, and Salesforce is certainly happy to have the attention.

We set the bar, and we set it high — and we’ve made it our goal to always produce content of a quality that’s worthy of that kind of attention.